Educational Science

Hookah Smoke Contains Cancer-Causing Chemical

People who smoke a hookah or inhale secondhand hookah smoke may be breathing in the chemical benzene, a substance that previous research has linked with an increased risk of leukemia, according to a new study. In the study, researchers collected urine samples from 105 hookah smokers before and after they...

Young Smokers May Be Switching to Cigarette Alternatives

The percentage of young adults in the United States who smoke cigarettes has dropped in recent years, but the decline could be due to this population switching from cigarettes to other forms of tobacco, a new poll suggests. The Gallup poll found that over the last decade, the smoking rate...

San Francisco's new tobacco ordinance — which raises the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 — could help improve the health of a new generation of people by preventing addiction, health officials said. Nationally, 18-year-olds can buy tobacco products, including cigarettes and cigars. However, in the...

#Catmageddon: Why Experts Love New Anti-Smoking Ad

Nothing gets the Internet talking like viral cat videos, and now a new anti-smoking ad has tapped into people's love of funny cats in the name of health education — a move that experts say is a good one. The ad, which aired during the Grammys this week, features a...

Goodbye Y: Men Who Smoke Have Missing Male Chromosomes

Add another troubling side effect to the list of health issues caused by cigarettes: Smoking may cause the Y chromosome to disappear from men's blood cells. A new study finds that men who smoke lose the Y chromosome in blood cells more frequently than nonsmokers — and the heavier their...

'Very Light' Smoking Common Among Young Women

Young American women commonly smoke, but only very lightly, or they smoke on some days but not others, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed information from more than 9,700 women ages 18 to 25, who answered questions about their smoking habits in 2011. Overall, about 30 percent of the women...

Five Reasons Smoking Rules are Lax

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Tobacco policy is a global issue. Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death and disease in the world. There are well over one billion smokers in the...

E-Cigarettes: What Vaping Does to Your Body

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigs, have been on the market in the U.S. since 2008 and have gained wider use in recent years. Now, evidence is beginning to emerge on e-cigs' short-term effects, and their positive and negative impact on people's health. E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid —...

Cost-of-Smoking Estimates Were Grossly Exaggerated

Smoking a pack of cigarettes a day will cost a person upwards of $2 million in tobacco costs and other expenses over his or her lifetime — at least according to a study conducted last month by WalletHub, a financial advice website. But is that claim true? The study says...